Solutions for Our Climate: Grantee Spotlight (2025)

Grantee spotlight: Solutions for Our Climate

The Giving Green Fund plans to award a restricted grant to Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) for its work to reduce heavy industry and shipping emissions. SFOC is a research and advocacy organization founded in South Korea that works to align policy, business, and finance activities with international climate targets. 

SFOC’s work falls within our philanthropic strategies of decarbonizing heavy industry and reducing shipping emissions. Please see Giving Green’s strategy reports for more information, including risks and potential co-benefits, recommended sub-strategies, theory of change, funding need, and key uncertainties.

Last updated: October 2025

What is Solutions for Our Climate?

SFOC was established in 2016 in South Korea to advocate for governments and corporations to take evidence-based climate action with an initial focus on decarbonizing the power sector. It has grown rapidly and now works to drive reductions across South Korea’s largest sources of emissions, including industry, transport, and land use change. SFOC’s core activities include technical research, policy advocacy, private-sector engagement, litigation, and community organizing. Through frequent collaborations with broadcast and print media, SFOC also serves an important role as a thought leader on climate action in South Korea. It is expanding its international presence through multilateral convenings and regional teams in Japan and Thailand.

What are we funding, and how could it help address climate change?

Heavy industry accounts for around one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and Asia is the largest manufacturing region in the world. East Asia also accounts for over 80% of global shipbuilding. For both sectors, we think technological progress and an enabling policy environment are needed to incentivize manufacturers to shift to low-carbon production methods. We are providing a restricted grant that can be used flexibly across SFOC’s industry and shipping programs:

Steel: SFOC’s steel program advocates for the Japanese and Korean governments, as well as steel producers and consumers, to work towards steel carbon neutrality by 2040. Its policy work blends government advocacy and education. Key policy targets include raising the ambition of government steel transition strategies, securing financing for low-carbon technologies, and strengthening industry-specific Nationally Determined Contributions in line with the Paris Agreement. Its producer advocacy campaigns oppose the relining and continued operation of coal-based furnaces, and challenge corporate greenwashing claims. Its consumer work encourages steel-consuming industries, like the auto industry, to set green procurement commitments that help build early demand for green steel.

Petrochemicals: SFOC launched its petrochemicals program in 2024. Its strategy is to advocate for the government to adopt more ambitious policies to drive industry action, including redirecting public investment towards low-carbon production technologies and strengthening the Korean Emissions Trading System. It plans to inform this work by conducting research on the most impactful emission reduction pathways and technologies. 

Shipping: SFOC’s shipping program uses advocacy to create an enabling environment for green shipping fuels, infrastructure, and vessels. In addition to its engagement in the International Maritime Organization, SFOC also advocates directly to national governments of several Asian shipping economies, such as Korea and Japan, to encourage the development of green policy frameworks, such as net-zero strategies and green fuel subsidies. It is also working to establish a green shipping corridor between the EU and Korea.

Why do we think Solutions for Our Climate will use this funding well?

We have been impressed by SFOC’s climate advocacy leadership and its strong track record. In the power sector, SFOC started a coalition of organizations that campaigned for South Korea’s commitment to end overseas coal finance, which was followed by similar commitments in Japan and China. SFOC also participated in campaigns to prevent the construction of 3,700 MW of new coal power plants and to expedite the retirement of 8,000 MW of coal power plants. 

We think philanthropic funding for industrial decarbonization is especially neglected in Asia, and we are therefore excited to support SFOC’s efforts in the field. SFOC’s steel program successes have included government advocacy leading up to the fast-tracked approval of ~$300 million USD of innovation funding from the Korean Ministry of Finance to commercialize green steel technology, and successful litigation against the greenwashing claims of South Korea’s largest steel company. In shipping, SFOC’s campaign culminated in public questioning at the Korean National Assembly, which highlighted the need to transition public funding from liquefied natural gas to renewable fuels, and the inclusion of zero-carbon ships in the world’s first Green Shipping Corridor bill. Its chemicals program has received early engagement from Korean policymakers, who invited SFOC to co-host a parliamentary seminar on chemicals decarbonization and contribute to Korea’s position on the ongoing Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.

Giving Green believes that additional climate donations are likely to be most impactful when directed to our top nonprofits. For several reasons, we may choose to recommend grants to other organizations for work that we believe is at least as impactful as grants to our top recommendations. We are highlighting this grant to offer transparency to donors to the Giving Green Fund, as well as to provide a resource for donors who are particularly interested in this impact strategy. This is a nonpartisan analysis (study or research) and is provided for educational purposes.

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